Contain Caste Politics

Whole media went on to rampage when Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalitha lost her 75 days fight with diseases. The way her funeral was covered and people queued on both sides of the road to have the last glimpse of their beloved leader was heartwarming. However, this warmness shun away soon when infighting between Shashikala Pushpa and Shashikala Natrajan surfaced and with the media trying to find out caste angles. Ironically, even people of Tamil Nadu are divided over the matter when the talks of Nadar versus Thevar erupted at the states local tea shops there.

Similarly, when the Enforcement Directorate started to look into the BSP’s Karol Bagh bank accounts, Mayawati tried to shield herself by claiming BJP’s vindictive politics against her as she is a Dalit. Whatever she said in her defense was on the expected political lines but I would have welcomed Mayawati if she had come with proper papers in her hands exposing the allegation she charged upon the BJP rather shielding inside the Dalit cover. It’s still not clear who will be the beneficiary of this slugfest post BSP bank account revelations, but I am sure this type of politics is an impediment into the developmental politics which majority of our leaders vow to follow but fail to implement.

It’s not that only Mayawati is indulged in using caste card to score over her political opponents. The UP CM, Akhilesh yadav, who vows on various numbers of times in day that he wants to go into this UP assembly polls in his developmental works and his agenda for the polls, would be development only. If this is his inner voice then what he was trying to prove by recommending ST status to 17 OBC castes when he is about to complete his tenure as UP chief minister and poll code can become applicable on any day. His caste card has authenticity as around 17 percent of the net voters in UP comes under this caste net and majority of them are not superimposing over the other. They are evenly distributed in the whole state and hence it’s quite clear that Akhilesh has taken this decision to use the caste card and his jibes of developments are not from the core of his heart.

We had great hope from Arvind Kejriwal as he had promised different kind of politics where decisions would be taken on merit rather caste, creed and gender biasedness. But, his recent Muslim remarks against Najeeb Jung would have pinched to all those crusaders against corruption who stood by Kejriwal leaving their jobs and other career options. When leaders like Kejriwal are fighting it hard to keep themselves away from caste politics, it gives a grim future of the Indian youth. It’s not the first time when Kejriwal has been found appeasing the Muslims. He has always shied away from his party stand on Kashmir and Pakistan citing ‘he is a regional leader and a CM of a state which is fighting for full statehood. So, he or his party need not take a political stand over Pakistan and Kashmir.’ But, he is now planning to contest Punjab assembly polls which shares border with Pakistan and now it has become important for rest of the India to know the foreign policy of AAP. But, I am sure Kejriwal would continue to shy away from his stance on Pakistan and Kashmir as it may go against the bulk of Muslim votes which helped him decimate the entire opposition in Delhi assembly polls. Albeit, a well drafted, to the point secular stand could do the trick. Sooner or later, Kejriwal would realize that he had an opportunity to write new chapter in Indian politics where he could help change the discourse of Indian polity from caste and creed to development.